Learning Center
The buyer closing-costs estimator.
The down payment is only part of the wire. Lender fees, title and escrow, prepaid interest, insurance, and inspections all land in the same cash-to-close number — sketch yours here with every input editable, so nothing at signing is a surprise.
Your loan
Lender fees
Third-party costs
Prepaids & reserves
Estimated cash to close
$181,716
$170,000 down payment + $11,716 closing costs
- Down payment
- $170,000
- Lender fees
- $4,900
- Third-party costs
- $3,800
- Prepaids & reserves
- $3,016
- Closing costs subtotal
- $11,716
- Loan amount
- $680,000
Educational estimate only — your Loan Estimate from a lender is the authoritative document, and your escrow officer’s settlement statement is the final word. Special Agents Realty is a brokerage, not a lender.
Educational estimate — your Loan Estimate from a lender is the authoritative document, delivered within three business days of applying, and the final settlement statement from escrow is the last word. Washington buyers customarily pay certain title and escrow portions, but every split is negotiable in the purchase contract; there is no fixed rule, so use your own quoted figures.
What are lender fees?
What the lender charges to make the loan: an origination fee (often quoted as a percentage of the loan), plus flat charges like underwriting and processing — and any discount points you choose to pay for a lower rate. All of it appears, line by line, on your Loan Estimate.
What do title and escrow cost a buyer?
Title insurance protects your ownership; escrow is the neutral third party that closes the deal. In Washington, custom commonly splits these between buyer and seller — but everything is negotiable in the purchase contract, which is why the estimator makes your share a plain editable number instead of pretending there's a fixed rule.
What is prepaid interest?
Interest from your funding date to the end of that month, paid at closing. It's simple arithmetic: your loan balance times your rate, divided by 365, times the number of days — close late in the month and it shrinks, close early and it grows. The estimator derives it from your own loan inputs so you can see the math move.
What are escrow reserves?
If your loan escrows taxes and insurance, the lender collects a few months of both up front to seed the account, and usually your first year of homeowners insurance is paid at closing too. Your Loan Estimate states the exact months — plug them in here.
Where do inspections fit?
You pay inspectors during the contingency period, not at the closing table — but they're real cash out of the same budget, so the estimator counts them. On unique homes the line grows: sewer scopes on older Seattle stock, marine surveys and dive inspections on the water.
Buying on the water? Budget the marine survey and dive inspection in the inspections line, and moorage or co-op transfer paperwork in the HOA/moorage setup line — floating-home closings carry cost lines land closings never see. The houseboat & floating-home guide walks through all of them.
Cash to close is one half of affordability — the monthly payment is the other, and the financing calculator handles that side. To see where these costs land in the deal, follow the buying timeline stage by stage, read our guide to closing and title costs and getting a legitimate lender, and before signing week, walk through the closing-day guide so the escrow office holds no surprises.
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